Vacation (Marquette, Cadillac, Lapeer: fit in, rent, motel)

midcal · 01-07-2008, 12:58 PM

Im looking for the best places in Michigan to take my wife to see wildlife and great scenery. U.P.? We would love to see a bear,elk, moose,and wolves. We also love waterfalls. Any suggestions? Thanks. Our trip will be in June.

jeeg · 01-07-2008, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midcal

Im looking for the best places in Michigan to take my wife to see wildlife and great scenery. U.P.? We would love to see a bear,elk, moose,and wolves. We also love waterfalls. Any suggestions? Thanks. Our trip will be in June.

You can sometimes see elk from a viewing area by gaylord. If you wish to see wolves, bears, and moose that aren't stuck in cages......... you're going to have to do some very rustic camping in da U.P., becoming one with the land and nature............. and even then you only have a fairly small chance of seeing one.

For waterfalls, just google waterfalls and michigans upper peninsula. There are some fantastic sites detailing them all (I'm on a personal mission to visit each one).

Coldjensens · 01-07-2008, 05:56 PM

Taquamenon falls. Hands down one of the best groups of waterfalls anywhere. It is not a big dramatic waterfall like Yosemite, but it is a really beautiful series of small falls. In warm weather, you can wade out into the lower falls. It is great. The trail between the upper and lower fall sis a really beautiful trail as well. It may be too challenging for elderly or severely out of shape people.

Wildlife is hit or miss. You have an better chance of seeing some in the evenings. Keep in mind that many animals are less active or completely inactive during the winter. Also keep in mind that winter hiking and camping in the UP or anywhere prone to sudden heavy snowfall can be very dangerous if you do nto know what you are doing.

The only place that you are likely to see wolves is that island off the UP. Someone will undoubtedly be able to post the name of the island here.

malamute · 01-07-2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Taquamenon falls. Hands down one of the best groups of waterfalls anywhere. It is not a big dramatic waterfall like Yosemite, but it is a really beautiful series of small falls. In warm weather, you can wade out into the lower falls. It is great. The trail between the upper and lower fall sis a really beautiful trail as well. It may be too challenging for elderly or severely out of shape people.

Wildlife is hit or miss. You have an better chance of seeing some in the evenings. Keep in mind that many animals are less active or completely inactive during the winter. Also keep in mind that winter hiking and camping in the UP or anywhere prone to sudden heavy snowfall can be very dangerous if you do nto know what you are doing.

The only place that you are likely to see wolves is that island off the UP. Someone will undoubtedly be able to post the name of the island here.

The Au Sable falls in the UP are also breathtaking -- it would be hard for me to say which is really better.

I would love to take a waterfall trip -- try to see as many as I could fit in.

Bydand · 01-07-2008, 06:14 PM

Isle Royale.

Best bet to see the wildlife you mentioned is defiantly the UP. For Elk the best bet is around Gaylord. The little side roads between Gaylord and Vanderbilt are always a good start. Sturgeon Valley road East of Vanderbilt always had a decent amount when I lived in the Gaylord area.

Adrian71 · 01-08-2008, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midcal

Im looking for the best places in Michigan to take my wife to see wildlife and great scenery. U.P.? We would love to see a bear,elk, moose,and wolves. We also love waterfalls. Any suggestions? Thanks. Our trip will be in June.

Yep, you can't beat the U.P. for beautiful Michigan views. And if you like waterfalls, I second what some others have said ... don't miss Tahquamenon Falls. Absolutely gorgeous!

Tahquamenon Falls State Park

UpperPeninsulaRon · 01-08-2008, 09:50 AM

[quote=Coldjensens;2447180]Taquamenon falls. Hands down one of the best groups of waterfalls anywhere. QUOTE]

That is a great place to go. If you have snowshoes, hiking around in the winter is wonderful. The frozen part of the falls takes on a really special color from the minerals.

Another great falls is the Munising Falls. It is real close to the city of Munising and is quite dramatic. Pictured Rocks is also close by to Munising. In the summer you can take a boat trip to see the Pictured Rocks from a Lake Superior viewpoint. South of Munising and north and west of Manistique is the Hiawatha National Forest. There are tons of places to hike and places where you can rent canoes. Beautiful country.

Jeanne1012 · 01-10-2008, 11:15 PM

I could probably write a book about vacationing in the UP. As a child my family had a cabin first in Indian River and then Cadillac. We would spend all summer there and take trips to all sorts of places in the UP.

I agree with the others that Taquamenon and Munising Falls are by far the most beautiful. There was a time when you could climb up and behind Munising Falls, my brothers and I had so much fun. I do agree that the hike to Taquamenon Falls is a long one. But well worth it. If you decide to go to Munising, stay at The Sunset Motel on the Bay. It's right on the bay of Lake Superior, you can rent jet skies, go swimming right in the bay, **WARNING** THE WATER IS ICE COLD, no matter how hot the day is. The drive from Munising to Marquette is a beautiful drive along Lake Superior.

If you also decide to go the UP, you have to make time to go to Whitefish Point. It's all the way at the top the UP, you can make it a day trip from St. Ignace. It is one of the most beautiful places. The beach is wonderful, it's on Lake Superior, water's still freezing. There's a Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and a lighthouse.

St. Ignace, just the other side of the Mackinaw Bridge. Not a whole lot to do there. There's place called "Look Out Point, there's a deer refuge if you head west from the bridge. You can catch the ferry to Mackinaw Island there, it might be cheaper in St. Ignace, then taking it from Mackinaw City. If you go to St. Ignace, you have to eat at this restaurant, I forget the name of it, but you can't miss it, it's along the Strait's of Mackinaw, it's a train car, the food the awesome and the prices are reasonable.

I hope this helped some.

midcal · 01-15-2008, 08:25 AM

Thank you for your comments people. Im a photography nut and cant wait to get up north. Im homesick. I lived in Lapeer for 35 years and took for granted the beauty of the state having never checked out the u.p. Thanks again.

naturelover007 · 07-23-2010, 05:04 PM

To see Bears one place is Oswald's Bear Ranch. (Pretty close to Munsing, Tahquemnon Falls etc) It's $10.00 per car. They are caged but there are openings for photography and for $5.00 you can have your picture taken with a baby bear (feed it and pet it). In that same are you will want to catch the Soo-so Train tour to the falls.

I was told by the Rangers at Seney National Park the best place to view wolves was at a neighboring town at night. The rangers can give you specifics to locate them. Moose I was told to go to I believe Munsing but Big Bay has them as well. In many of those places I listed you'll also see Eagles. I was also told by the Rangers that they've only had one moose in Seney National Park in the 10 years he has been there.